The Night New York Went Dark
by Akaeley
Summary: A disaster befalls New York, and the turtles are separated. In order to take on this new evil they must first find each other, and then make their way through the chaos that New York has become. Easier said than done...
1. Prologue

_**A/N** Welcome to my first every ninja turtles fanfic! Hooray! Hopefully this will turn out to be a swashbuckling action/adventure alien invasion story (I know that sounds stupid, but I promise it won't be!! Aliens can be cool, just read Pulse by pi90katana). This will involve all the turtles fairly equally and don't worry, there will be angst all round!_

_This first prologue is short, but the chapters will get longer!_

_Please review, and if you spot any typos/grammar errors please tell about them so I can fix it!_

* * *

Casey was desperately trying to keep his eyes open.

True, he was pretty sure Raphael wouldn't notice if he _did_ doze off, just for a little while… but he didn't want to run the risk. The last thing any sane person would want was for Raphael to be mad. Well, madder.

Instead, Casey fixed the ceiling with a wide-eyed stare that would stop him slipping into slumber, and murmured at appropriate intervals:

"Yeah, that must suck, dude"

"It's damn _infuriating_!" Raphael fumed. "He's not the oldest, no matter what he thinks, and just cause for some reason Splinter reckons he'd make a better leader, he's all over my case!"

"Mm-hmm…"

"Like, now I'm gettin' Leo-lectures about stuff like cleaning up my room! Watching out for Donnie and Mikey – fuck it all, they aren't freakin' babies! Who the hell does he think he is?"

Casey sighed. It was going to be a long night.

* * *

It was a cold night, and Donatello shivered as he picked through the mounds of towering metal, twisted with the debris of countless appliances that had been discarded long ago. A cold wind blew as he finally found a fairly new computer, and he hugged his heavy overcoat more tightly around him. He was glad he had decided to bring his outer-world disguise, even if it was a pitch-dark night, and he was fairly certain no one would be out in the horrible weather. At least it was warm.

He began pulling apart the hard drive, looking for workable circuit boards. He didn't have enough room in his satchel for the whole computer. He worked quickly, wanting more and more to get out of the rain and back home where, nice and warm, he could fully appreciate the beautiful construction of the electronics he was dismantling.

* * *

Leonardo was pacing. First he would walk to the couch. Then the kitchen. Then the doorway. Couch. Kitchen. Doorway.

"Leo." Michelangelo's voice held a note of warning. "Leo, why don't you just sit down, dude? You're going to walk a wrinkle into the floor."

Leo sighed. "Sorry." He walked slowly over and collapsed forlornly beside Mikey on the couch.

"Why don'cha go work out in the dojo or something?" Mikey blurted, between handfuls of popcorn. Leo wrinkled his nose slightly under the spray of pre-chewed kernels, wondering how it was that Mike didn't choke to death – he was eating so fast.

"Splinter's in there meditating." Leo fidgeted slightly, looking – well, _cranky_, Mikey thought. He forced himself to focus on the movie, and didn't react as Leo shifted so his legs were crossed. Then stretched them out again. Then lay down so that his head was on the armrest. Then he rolled over. Then –

"Dude! Go to bed! Do something! Go away!" Mikey howled, flinging the empty popcorn bowl at Leo's head. The Tupperware container bounced off a stunned Leo's forehead and smacked straight back into Mikey's face, and he squeaked in surprise.

At the sight of Mikey's speechless indignation, Leo burst out laughing.

"All right, Mike. Whatever, I'll go to my room. Enjoy the rest of the movie". He climbed to his feet and headed out the door, but not before slapping the back of Mikey's head on his way out. No Tupperware assault should go unpunished.

* * *

Splinter was meditating in the dojo, but he was anything but relaxed. Brow furrowed, he concentrated all his energies on the unseen presence flickering around the edges of his consciousness. There was something out there, he was sure he could sense it. The presence was growing, coming nearer, and it felt strange – he was sure he had never encountered anything like it before.

It felt alien.

Unseen by all, dark figures were moving through the lightless sewer tunnels underneath New York. Focused with purpose, and dark of intent, they stalked underneath the streets; minds clear of all save one goal.

Prepare the way, for more were coming


	2. Chapter 1

_Hello again! I'm back for chapter 1, and hopefully chapter 2 will appear next Tuesday. Hope you like this, and I'd love feedback!_

_Oh, forgot to do this before:_

_**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything; I am just playing :)_

_Rated T for some violence and swearing (mostly Raph)_

* * *

Leo was alone in his room, but not asleep. 

Instead he sat on the bed, katana at his back and mask still on, and felt strangely desolate. And lonely.

It was hard being the leader.

He tried his best to protect his family, to keep them safe, to make good decisions and do the right thing, but it seemed everywhere he turned there were more accusations. If it wasn't Raphael questioning his judgement, so sure he could do better, then it was his own reflection in the mirror, taunting him endlessly in the hours of darkness with what-if, what-if, what-if.

The others never knew, but sometimes Leo longed with all his being to be able to step back and let Raph take charge. To give in, and finally be able to relax. But Splinter had bestowed upon Leonardo the mantle of leader, and thus it was a burden he had no choice but to bear.

The soft sound of a dull thump caught his ear and, curious, Leo stuck his head out the doorway.

Mikey lay on the couch, snoring softly and clutching the empty popcorn bowl. Turning his head the other way, Leo was startled to see Splinter barrelling towards him, moving faster than Leo had ever seen him move.

"Master Splinter?"

"Quickly!" Splinter cried out, his voice desperate "quickly, they are coming!"

"Wha-" Mikey had sat up and was blinking blearily in surprise as Splinter rushed past him towards the front door. Leo only had time to take a single step out of his room, gaping at Splinter in astonishment, when he heard a loud roar and the door burst open, as Splinter skidded to a halt on the threshold.

In the doorway stood an awesome creature unlike anything Leo had ever seen before. It stood at least seven feet tall on two muscular legs, and had dusky grey skin covered sparsely in hair. Its shoulders were broader than any humans and it had four hair-covered arms, two emerging on each side from the top of its shoulders. The thing had no neck, simply three eyes on stalks that encircled a gaping crevice that could only be its mouth, the three eyes continually rotating, scanning the surrounding environment.

"Yeti?" thought Leo stupidly. And then it drew back the long wooden stick it held in its six-fingered hands, and before Splinter had time to do more than attempt to leap away it had driven the wickedly sharpened end straight into his side. Splinter made no sound, but dropped to the floor like a puppet with the strings cut. Snarling, the thing kicked his limp form roughly aside.

"No!" As Leo stood frozen in horror Mikey leapt to his feet, nunchakus whirling, and launched himself at the first three-eyed monster, a look on his face Leo had never seen there before. As Leo called Splinter's name desperately and unsheathed his katanas, two more of the things entered the lair, looking about themselves curiously before focusing on the pitched battle Mikey and the other were presently engaged in. Then they caught sight of Leo.

As his eyes flicked to his sensei's motionless form, Leo leapt forward, and thought that he had never felt more willing to attack something in his life.

* * *

Raphael jerked awake, his heart pounding. Instantly alert, he listened intently for what had awoken him as his eyes stared into the pitch darkness of Casey's apartment. 

He could hear Casey snoring loudly in the other recliner, and beyond that, silence. Or was that noise… could he really hear it?

Then it came again, louder and unmistakeable.

Screaming.

He leapt to his feet and shook Casey roughly by the shoulder, hissing at him.

"Wake up!"

Casey blinked at him once, and then was suddenly ready, seizing his bat and hockey mask from beside him as the stood for a moment, listening.

The screams were unmistakeable now, louder, and Raphael could tell it was the sound of many voices.

Glancing at each other, they wordlessly reached a consensus and Casey lead the way up the fire escape towards the roof. As he entered the cold night, Raphael saw instantly the cause for all the screaming.

A short distance away a strange craft hovered not more than 200 feet in the air. If Raph hadn't known better, he would have said it was a UFO – it was shaped like a rocket, but immensely larger and more bulbous in the middle than any human aircraft _he_ had ever seen. It was as dark as the night sky, a blue searchlight flickering from beneath it as it swept the ground below.

Continuing to creep up the fire escape, Raph squinted at the sweeping blue beam. He could see strange shapes seeming to float in the air, slowly descending from the heart of the ship before gently landing on the street below and hurrying off into the night. They looked like – looked like –

"Aliens!" whispered Casey, a broad grin spreading across his face. "Awesome!"

* * *

Don had also noticed the strange craft and was staring up at it in utter astonishment, still clutching the forgotten circuit board in his hands. It hovered a short distance away so that he had a clear view up underneath the ship, and had watched for the last ten minutes the alien soldiers descending to earth and hurrying off into the night, in groups of around ten like some sort of army companies. His ninja senses were screaming at him to take action, but for once in his life Donatello had absolutely no idea what to do. How could he take on thousands of strange monsters with just himself and his bo? And he couldn't sneak back to the lair, not without being spotted by one of the creatures. He had already seen them chase one hapless man, who had leapt into a car and sped off before Donatello had decided whether to run to his aid or not. 

And Donatello had no idea what these creatures would make of a mutant turtle.

A final monster came to earth and he and his company took off running, seeming to be in much more of a hurry than the previous groups. A small worm of fear began to eat at Donatello's stomach as he heard their heavy feet beating a frantic departure on the city asphalt, and the beam changed colour from blue to red.

"Uh-oh" he whispered to himself, just as a blast of light shot down the beam and burst outwards. Donatello felt the circuit board in his hands spring to life with a zap, and then suddenly everything around him was sparking, as he felt electricity coursing through his body. Shaking and jerking involuntarily, his teeth rattling inside his head, he realised with terror that he couldn't uncurl his fingers to let go of the board – but then everything around him exploded in a shower of metal shrapnel and the world went mercifully dark.

* * *

The rolling shockwave burst outwards from the red beam like a tidal wave, and Raph and Casey threw themselves to the ground as it swept over them. The sky turned blue as thousands of streetlights, neon signs and traffic lights coursed with electricity, sparkling and zapping crazily. They huddled against the wall as the antenna of the building swung wildly, arcing electricity over them like a flailing whip, before it suddenly went dark. Simultaneously there was a shatter that seemed to rock the world as the glass in every street light exploded outwards, falling to earth in a clinking shower of destructive rain. They could feel the building below them tremble as hundreds of microwaves, refrigerators, computers, lights and probably anything else with an electrical circuit sparked and then died or exploded in a burst of electric power. Almost instantly, the world around them went darker than Raph would have ever thought possible, and a chorus of screams and shouts began. 

All was black around them, except for the eerie green lights coming from the spaceship above.

* * *

Leo had fought his way to Splinter's side and now shielded him as the television screens, Donny's computer and the microwave and fridge all seemed to take an a life of their own, sparking crazily as the lights flickered on and off. A monster reached for him and he swung at it in pure hatred, cutting off some of its fingers. At that very moment the world was plunged into darkness as the thing bellowed its pain, and he heard Mikey give a yell as he heard a monster hiss: 

"I have one, let us go now!"

Leo scrambled to his feet, clutching the handles of his katana in the utter blackness, and heard Mikey cry in terror,

"Leo, it's got me! Leo, it's taking me!! LEO, HELP!!!"

"Mikey! No!" but Leonardo was as good as blind in the utter darkness, could sense movement only by movements in the air around him, and he could not attack for fear he would hurt Mikey too.

"Mikey, talk to me!"

"I'm here, Leo!!" he could hear Mikey struggling frantically, letting off a stream of curses Raph would have been proud of, and Leo could distinctly hear the whistle of his nunchuks sailing though the air. The thing emitted a yelp of pain and then he heard a growl and dull thump, and Mikey was suddenly silent.

Leo chased the sounds frantically, dropping a katana and reaching out blindly, hoping to somehow grab Mikey and pull him free, but he only succeeded in grasping the oily fur of a departing monster. It struck him across the face with a blow that nearly knocked him out, and he crashed to the floor. Desperately crawling forwards as the world spun around him, he screamed for Michelangelo.

But the departing splash and thud of the door closing was all he heard, as deaf silence descended, broken only by his own harsh breathing.


	3. Chapter 2

_A/N hi again! Well, here is Chapter 2, and sorry about the wait - I had an exam yesterday and had to study, yuk… but now it's over, and I'm free!!_

_Thanks for reading, hope you enjoy this chapter :)_

* * *

For a moment Leo simply sat in the darkness, numb with shock.

He had lost Mikey… he had lost Mikey…

_He had failed_

Recovering his senses, he began groping for Splinter in the darkness, taking care with his movements. He knew his dropped katana was somewhere nearby, and the last thing he needed right now was to cut his fingers off.

"Master Splinter?" he whispered to the darkness. "Are you there?"

He didn't expect an answer, and was therefore stunned when he heard a thin voice.

"My… son"

"Father!" Leo reached forward blindly in the direction from which the voice had come, and was rewarded when he felt his hands brush against soft fur. "Are you badly hurt?"

"I believe… I will live, my son" Splinter coughed a horrible ragged cough, but then his voice became stronger and Leo felt him pull himself up to a sitting position. "Leonardo… where is your brother?"

Leonardo hung his head. "They took him away with them" he whispered, horrified to feel tears pricking at the back of his eyes. He had never felt such a failure. He heard Splinter sigh, and blinked the tears away furiously. Now was no time to panic – he had to pull himself together. They weren't safe here in the dark. "I'll get some candles," he said, and climbed to his feet, picking his way through what remained of the living room. It had been trashed during the fight, and several times he stumbled over furniture that had been thrown asunder by two warring parties. The darkness was suffocating, and he breathed a sigh of relief when he finally reached the kitchen and felt his hands close over the cool wax candles.

Striking a match brought the lair into flickering relief, and he blinked, momentarily blinded by even this dim light. Relief flooded through him as sight returned, and he quickly made his way back to Master Splinter, picking up his katana from where it lay and sheathing it.

He leant over Splinter's bleeding side, holding the candle aloft to see the extent of his injuries. The wooden stake had caught him in his side and caused a large wound that was still bleeding, albeit sluggishly. Although it looked to have missed all vital organs, it still needed treatment. Splinter sat with his head against the wall, eyes closed, breathing uneven. It clearly caused him much pain.

Leo wondered what to do. Wait for Donatello to return? For the first time, he wondered about the strange creatures that had burst into their lair. Who were they? Why had they taken Mikey? Were they only in the sewers? Or…

His heart constricted

Were they everywhere? All the power had gone out, after all, in that weird, explosive way. He suspected the monsters had something to do with it.

Oh, god. Where were Raph and Donny?

He gently pulled Splinter to his feet, slinging his arm over his neck and supporting his weight. Splinter inhaled sharply, but otherwise made no sound. His eyes flicked open, meeting Leo's and they held only trust.

"Okay" said Leo softly "lets go to April's."

* * *

Raph and Casey crouched on the rooftop, peering over the wall at the street below. They could hear loud, panicked voices rising as people emerged from their houses onto the street below, but could see nothing. The only light was from the stars above – and from the alien craft, which still hovered a short distance away. A cacophony of shouts and scared voices tainted the air, and Raph heard thousands of running feet, and what was unmistakeably the roars and crash of combat. The distinct noise of a gunshot echoed through the air. 

He looked at Casey, but could only see his dim outline.

"Raph, man" Casey's voice was small "what should we do?"

"We need light," Raph whispered roughly. "Let's get back to your place"

Creeping down the fire escape, trying desperately not to slip, Raphael felt fear rising within him. And as so often happened with Raphael, that fear was closely followed by anger.

Who were these creatures? What the hell did they think they were about, scaring people like this and shutting off the power? What was it that they wanted?

Actually, he had a strange suspicion he knew what they wanted. In his years as a ninja, pretty much everything he had fought had wanted the same thing.

Domination.

Still, he wasn't quite sure how turning the power off came into the equation.

As they finally reached Casey's and he climbed through the window, Raph felt a sharp, stabbing pain in his foot and he inhaled sharply, following this with a string of curses.

"What? What's wrong? Casey's voice was soft, close to his ear. He sounded scared – or as scared as Casey got, anyway.

"I think I stepped on glass" he reached down and ran his finger over the sole of his foot, feeling warm liquid welling up, but no pointed shard of glass – good, it must still be on the floor. "You got shoes?"

"Yeah." Casey climbed over him and dropped to the floor with a tinkling noise. "Wait here, I'll get a torch." He crunched away, his voice offering a stream of commentary. "Wow, check out the glass on the floor! Oh wait, you can't see it. Well anyway, there's heaps of glass on the floor. What d'you reckon it's from? Oh hey, I bet it's the lights – it sounded like they all blew out. Oh man! I think my fridge tipped over. Gross, there's heaps of crap on the floor – I nearly slipped in juice. At least I hope its juice. Ow!! Dammit, who put that bench there? Now, where did I leave the torch? Under the microwave… hey, Raph, I think my microwave exploded! It feels all messed up and stuff – there's so much glass on the floor too. Weird, how'd they make all the electric stuff explode? Cool, here's the torch" a clicking noise. "Hey Raph, the torch doesn't work!!"

Raphael rolled his eyes. "You got candles?"

"Oh yeah! Now where are they…" The crunching noise of Casey's feet grew fainter as he disappeared into another room, and Raph turned to look out the window. He could see faint lights beginning to appear in the streets below, probably from candles, and hear more voices.

"What's going on?"

"What are these creatures? What do they want? What should we do?!"

"Have you seen my son? He was out with his friends – did you see him come home? Have _you_ seen my son?"

"Dad! Da-ad! Daddy! Dad, say something! Dad, where are you?"

The fear in the voices made Raphael still angrier, and he clenched his fists. He couldn't _wait_ to get into it with these suckers… but a niggling fear began to rise, momentarily surpassing his anger.

Were his brothers okay? Should be, last he checked they were all underground at the lair…

Right?

He pulled out his shell-cell, but it was as dead as every other electronic device and he threw it to the floor with a scowl.

"Hey, man!" He jumped, startled, at the sound of Casey's voice and turned to see Casey grinning a crooked grin, illuminated by the glow of the candle in front of him. "I got some light! What do you want to do now?"

Raphael's face was hard. "The lair. We'll be safe there, then we can work out what these jokers'r all about."

Casey frowned. "What about April? I think we should get her first" he objected. Raph considered this, then shook his head. "Too risky – even with candles, we can hardly see a damn thing. Her place is ten blocks away, and I bet no cars are working, the streets are packed with people and those… things. We go regroup with Master Splinter and the others, then in the daylight we can get April and take on these suckers!"

Casey looked like he disagreed, but then sighed. "Whatever, man. Here" he held out some rags. "Tie these on your feet. There's probably heaps of broken glass out there." Raph grinned at him, surprised but pleased, and began tying them around his feet.

"Thanks, man!"

"Don't mention it" Casey said tiredly, but he was smiling too. Raph thumped him on the shoulder, then jumped to his feet.

"Let's go!"

* * *

Leo could not remember a more harrowing trip down the sewer tunnels. There was no light at all, and he was finding his way purely from memory. 

And Splinter was weak. Leo was practically carrying him. He could feel wet blood between his fingers where he pressed a cloth against Splinter's wound.

Wordlessly began to move faster.

Every now and then he heard the sound of splashing made by others. The first time, he had had to blow out the candle, lest they be spotted. More monsters, he though, lip curling in hatred. But he couldn't attack them. Could only be silent, and still, and pray their night vision wasn't any better than his.

And now he was in the dark again, and it had never taken him so long to get to April's.

At first he had thought he would travel above ground, but one glance out a manhole had told him that wasn't a good idea. Thousands of the creatures lurked on the streets, and he saw them chasing people who had spilled out on to the streets. He didn't see what happened to those who were caught, but the screams gave him a clue.

His grip on Master Splinter tightened. He couldn't unsheath his katana just yet. Patience. First he had to get Master Splinter to a place of safety.

So he moved through the dark, silently thankful that he had travelled to April's this way so often before that he knew the route from memory. He would never take his eyes for granted again.

Finally, finally, he felt the cool steel of the ladder that led to the manhole outside April's place. "Nearly there, Master Splinter. Can you climb?"

No answer, but he felt a frail hand reach out and grip the ladder beside his own.

Slowly, they climbed, until they reached the manhole cover and Leo lifted it off, pulling Splinter through it onto the New York street.

He was greeted with utter pandemonium. People were running about guided only by starlight and weak candle flames, some searching for lost loved ones, some obviously preparing to escape the city, and a few being pursued by more of the tall alien monsters. The two creatures swung their long wooden staffs about indiscriminately, flinging people to the ground and causes deep wounds when the sharp end struck flesh. A still form lay before him on the street, and Leo felt his heart constrict with emotion.

He desperately wanted to run to the aid of the people being chased, but he also had to help Splinter and find his brothers. And so, feeling like the worst coward imaginable, he turned away and escaped through the many dark shadows into the narrow laneway beside April's building, and began climbing the fire escape. Gently supporting Splinter, Leo carefully helped him mount each step, trying to ignore his heavy, gasping breaths and tightly closed eyes. He didn't think Splinter had even noticed the chaos.

All the windows in the building were pitch dark, and April's apartment was no different as he squinted into the inky blackness, searching for her familiar form. He lifted Splinter up onto the sill and then crept forwards into the living room, listening carefully.

"Ap-" he began to whisper, only to be cut short as a baseball bat came swinging out of nowhere, and he dropped to the floor more out of reflex than anything else as it sailed over his head, accompanied by a very familiar, very feminine roar.

"April!" he yelled, shielding his face with his arms as he glimpsed it coming down on him like an executioner's axe, and squeezed his eyes shut as he tensed for the final blow.


End file.
